Analysis of film posters

The image of Bruce Willis holding a gun up is a typical action code used in films suggesting that he is about to shoot someone.
The quote ‘would you sacrifice another family.. Is implying that he is helping another family instead of his own family, who could be in danger. This suggests an enigma code to the audience as they don’t really expect anyone to sacrifice their family to help another.

The name itself hostage suggests the plot of the story. Without even watching it suggests as someone is going to be held hostage.
The word hostage also tells the audience that the film is a crime/ thriller film as it tells us its about a crime of a hostage is going to be take place.

The colour red used on the title “Hostage” could be symbolising danger which could be telling the audience what to expect in the film.
Also the fact it’s written in a large font and only uses capital letters draws attention the title, and by grabbing the audience’s attention makes them want to watch the film to see what the hostage is all about.

The way Bruce Willis is portrayed in the image could be suggesting that he has power by the way he’s holding up the gun and his serious expression all suggest that he is a powerful man.


The title “the usual suspects” suggests that the a certain group are the usual suspects for a crime this could be because they have been involved in crimes before therefore they are prime suspects.

The five men stood in a line up against a wall suggests that this film is a crime film as they look like how suspects of a crime that are set up at the police station.

This quote suggests that everything is not how it seems and that we need to look past people who may be the usual suspects of committing a crime. This is an example of an enigma code on a film poster as its making you question things, something you wouldn’t usually question.

The quote here is an enigma code suggesting something out of the norm. Which creates confusion/interest with the audience by doing this is makes the audience want to watch the film to find out what’s going to happen.

The title suggests that the dark knight is some kind of anti-hero by putting the word dark next to knight could be symbolising there is more to him than just a knight and he might not be a good knight like you might expect.
However by the way the man is standing suggests he is of importance and that he is a hero type by the way he is dressed in a costume this also implies he is hiding his appearance for some reason, perhaps he doesn’t want people finding out his true identity perhaps if people found out his true identity his family and his lifestyle could be in danger.

The image in the back ground of the building on fire and falling down suggest that this could be a crime film as it could have been done my somebody perhaps on purpose. The colours and the images used on the poster are dark and gloomy suggesting that bad things are going to happen in the film doing this its telling the audience what to expect watching the film.